Additionally, the complainant recorded his statements before the Principal Civil Judge and JMFC, Belthangady Taluk. However, the advocates expressed concern over being barred from being present during the statement recording, citing the complainant’s difficulty with the legal process.
Published Jul 11, 2025 | 7:38 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 11, 2025 | 7:38 PM
Ex-worker alleged murders, rapes, and secret burials tied to Dharmasthala Temple administration.
Synopsis: A Dalit man who alleged a decades-long cover-up of murders and sexual assaults at the Dharmasthala temple in Karnataka has been granted protection under the Witness Protection Scheme, 2018. His advocates described the authorities’ response as “positive”, though raised concern that he was made to record his statement before the court without their presence, despite his explicit request.
A week after a Dalit man, formerly employed as a sanitation worker at the Dharmasthala Manjunatha temple in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district, alleged a 20-year cover-up of murders and sexual assaults, his request for protection under the Witness Protection Scheme, 2018, has been granted.
In a statement issued on Friday, July 11, advocates representing the complainant, Ojaswi Gowda and Sachin Deshpande, described the response from the relevant authorities as “positive.”
“A communication to this effect was sent to us on the evening of 10-Jul-2025 by the authorities concerned,” the statement reads.
“The Complainant conveys his gratitude to the District judiciary, Dakshina Kannada, the Police authorities in Dakshina Kannada and the Government of Karnataka for acting expeditiously on the request for Witness Protection for the Complainant.”
Additionally, the complainant recorded his statements before the Principal Civil Judge and JMFC, Belthangady Taluk, on Friday under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which corresponds to Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
However, the advocates expressed concern over being barred from being present during the statement recording, citing the complainant’s difficulty with the legal process.
“We, the advocates, were firmly and clearly instructed by the complainant beforehand that one of us should be present in court while he made his statements to the court. He is illiterate, has never been to court before, and had expressed serious difficulty with the process. We clearly informed the Court of this concern,” the statement reads.
“However, the Court did not agree to the presence of the advocates and commenced the recording of the complainant’s statement in our absence. This is for your information and record.”
In a detailed complaint addressed to the Dakshina Kannada Police Commissioner on July 3, the survivor, who has requested anonymity, alleged that between 1995 and 2014, he was forced under death threats to dispose of hundreds of bodies, many showing signs of sexual violence and brutal murders.
Dakshina Kannada police have registered an FIR (Crime Number 39/2025) under Section 211(a) of the BNS, after obtaining court permission. In a statement, they said the complaint will be investigated in accordance with the law.
The complainant said he was coming forward after all these years because he could no longer remain silent, and described three specific incidents, including being forced to bury a teenage sexual assault victim in 2010.
Other incidents included the burning of the body of a woman whose face had been disfigured with acid, and several instances in which the destitute were allegedly suffocated to death in a systematic manner.
The complainant said he fled Dharmasthala in 2014 after a member of his own family was sexually harassed, and returned recently to exhume one of the “hundreds” of bodies he said he had buried, to present as evidence.
Attaching photographs of the exhumed body with his complaint, he urged an immediate investigation. He said he was unable to reveal the identities of the accused until he and his family were accorded witness protection.
He also requested that the buried bodies be exhumed and given proper last rites.
On Thursday, a week after the initial complaint, advocates Ojaswi Gowda and Sachin Deshpande urged all 788 Members of Parliament to take note of the case ahead of the Monsoon session.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
